Quick Asides: Jamestown and Name-Banning

• You all have seen the story about Jamestown, yes? If not, please wait until you’ve digested breakfast to read the latest findings about how terribly desperate the winter of 1609 was for the British attempting to establish a colony there. Am I the only one who was haunted by the reconstructed image of the long-gone 14-year-old girl? And is it wrong to wonder how possible it might be to establish an identity for her among those known to have been there? I just think she ought to be more than an … artifact.

• “Not another banned baby name story,” groaned Mr. Archaeologist as I clicked on the link anyway. This one is out of New Zealand. Mr. A. is correct in remonstrating that we USians tend to be far too astounded about how the rest of the world operates, viz., ensuring orderly naming practices. We can’t get enough of it. In 2010, CNN/Mental Floss even did a roundup featuring name-banning in Sweden, Germany, China, Japan and Denmark! But it is so satisfying to know that somewhere in the world, it is not OK to name your twins Benson and Hedges.